Matthew McConaughey prefers emotional honesty of filming drama movies

Matthew McConaughey found keeping an upbeat persona difficult when making romantic comedies.

The actor won the hearts of women around the world in the 2000s by starring in a string of light-hearted films, including 2001’s The Wedding Planner and 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but later chose to focus on more serious projects such as film Dallas Buyers Club and HBO show True Detective.

While Matthew has found critical success with his most recent roles, he insists that romance films were more taxing to make as they require a constantly sunny disposition.

“If you’re really honest about how you feel in a romantic comedy, you sink the ship,” he said during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night (31Jul17). “You have to bounce along the clouds in romantic comedies. I mean, you can’t love as hard, get mad as hard, hate as hard or laugh as hard in those things, you just bounce along the clouds.

“Now in a drama, you hang your head on humanity at every single turn. You sit there and you go, ‘Now how do I feel about that?’ You can go hard – the ceiling is higher and the basement is lower in the drama.”

In addition to his film roles, the Texan has also become famous for his catchphrases, such as “alright, alright, alright”.

The 47-year-old claims to have first uttered the phrase while filming a part for Richard Linklater’s 1993 film Dazed and Confused, but is always “working on” new sayings.

“Don’t make a straight line crooked,” he offered as a potential new catchphrase, adding, “The other day I had one that gave me a giggle… Found myself right where I left me.”